a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for automatic generation of a title entry format used in the retrieval of image information in an image filing device which files a mass of image information and retrieves intended image information from among the entered image information, and a method for filing images using the title entry format.
b) Description of the Related Art
In an image filing device in which a mass of documentary information is stored as image data in a large capacity memory medium such as an optical disk or the like, it is necessary to enter retrieval title information as attached to a document which is to be filed. Such retrieval title information comprises the name of a document to be filed, date of filing, keyword indicative of the contents of the document, etc. and is used as a retrieval index for calling out a necessary document from among many filed documents. Namely, if there is no retrieval title information, it is impossible to select a certain document from a mass of documentary information. Hence, it is an indispensable job in the image filing device to assign retrieval title information to the documentary information when entering the documentary information.
At present, when a document is filed in the image filing device developed for practical use, retrieval title information is entered by the operator using the keyboard. So, in case it is intended to file many documents, it is necessary to enter title information for each of the documents through key-operation and the operator must operate the keyboard for a long time. Even if the filing speed of the image filing device itself is improved, the filing of the documents cannot be done in a shorter time than the time required for the operator to complete the key-operation for filing the documents. A user who introduces an image filing device will first encounter a problem of initial input, that is, what he should do for effective storage of a mass of documentary information into the filing device. The improvement in document filing speed and in operability for entry of the documents are the most important factors for the image filing device. So, the system in which the operator operates the keyboard for input of title information will greatly limit the improvement in performance of the image filing device.
To solve the above-mentioned problems, the Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. Sho 55-135967 and Sho 62-260475 disclose the following inventions. According to these inventions, title information to be attached to each of the documents to be filed is entered into a title entry format separate from a document to be filed, the title information entered in the title entry format is recognized by utilizing a technique of character recognition and it is entered into the image filing device. These methods obviate the key-input operations by the operator for input of any title information, whereby the filing performance of the image filing device can be greatly improved.
With the above-mentioned techniques, the information entered in the title entry format is read by a character recognition technique adopted in the OCR (optical character reader) in practice, and the title information thus read is entered and automatically attached to the document to be filed. The OCR reads characters entered in a format of a fixed form such as various kinds of slips, work schedules, arrangement charts, etc. The format of a fixed form used with the OCR has printed thereon a plurality of character entry frames for specifying the positions where characters are to be written. The information on the position of each character entry frame printed on the format is previously entered in the OCR and the positional information is used for extracting one after another character images to be recognized from the entered image information.
In use of the above-mentioned format reading method the OCR is applied for input of title information in an image filing device, and it becomes necessary to design and print a title entry format of a fixed form. The contents of documents to be filed into the image filing device vary from one to another user, and also plural kinds of documents are filed by each user. Further, the contents and form of the title information to be used in retrieval of a document vary depending upon the contents of the document.
The filing of newspaper clippings will be explained as an example. For this purpose, the following form of title information is conveniently usable:
(item 1) Paper name with a maximum of 10 characters
(item 2) Date of issue with a maximum of 10 characters
(item 3) Keyword indicative of the article contents with a maximum of 20 characters
Note that the numbers of characters specified here are given by way of example. In the above example, an area of 40 characters is taken for title information, and divided into three items. A paper name is entered into the first item area of 10 characters, a date of issue into the second item area of 10 characters, and a keyword for the contents of the article into the third item area of 20 characters.
Also, for filing of patent information, for example, the following form of title information can be conveniently used:
(item 1) Title of invention with a maximum of 20 characters
(item 2) Publication No. with a maximum of 10 characters
(item 3) Date of filing with a maximum of 10 characters
(item 4) Keyword for the contents of the invention with a maximum of 20 characters
In this case, an area of 60 characters is taken for title information, and divided into four items. For generating a title entry format, it is necessary to print character frames for entry of a title information for each of the items, and also it is necessary, with a consideration given to the ease of use of the format, to print, by the side of the character frames for each item, guidance information (such as paper name, date of issue, etc. in case of the above-mentioned filing of newspaper clippings) indicating the contents of the title information to be filled in the character frames. Therefore, different title entry formats are to be generated separately depending upon the contents and forms of various title information. For printing of formats, initial costs such as costs for the block copy, etc. are necessary, and so the printing of title entry formats is a big burden to each user. Also, once a title entry format is created and printed massively, it will be difficult to change the contents and form of the title entry form thereafter, causing the image filing device to be reduced in flexibility.
As described in the above, it is essential, for automatic assignment of title information by an automatic recognition technique of a document to be filed, to simply generate a title entry format, but in the conventional techniques, no consideration is given to this generation of title entry information.